As Is My Duty
by hunter-strain13
Summary: What if Bala had never met Z? What if she became the princess she was meant to be and, as her first royal duty, she is sent as an ambassador to a nearby Black ant colony to attempt an alliance. Contains Bala/Mandible and Cutter/OC


**Disclaimer: I do not own Antz or any of the characters in it. I only own the OCs that appear in this fic.**

**Hello and welcome, my chickadees. This is my first Antz fic so please be gentle if you review. I noticed there are very few fics for this fandom so I decided to write my own. **

**In this fic, Bala never meets Z. She stays in the palace and ends up becoming the princess she was meant to be. As a sign of peace, she proposes to meet with the leader of a black ant colony nearby to potentially create a new ally. Mandible and Cutter go with her as bodyguards and they must face danger at every turn. **

**This fic contains MandibleXBala in addition to CutterXOC. If you don't like those, do not read this. Here we go!**

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_Prologue- Royal Pain_

No matter how often she had to go through it, she never seemed to warm up to it. Even though she had finally excepted her role as princess and settled down in the palace, she had never enjoyed the frilly, overly feminine things that were forced upon her and she knew she never would. The council meetings and public speeches she could handle. It was the parties she could not stand. Most people her age would love to attend balls and dances as often as she did, especially with the social caliber of many of the other guests. Not Bala. Not that the princess did not enjoy herself, snacking on sweet treats and sipping beverages that made her feel giggly. That part was far from terrible. It was the content that seemed to consume almost every conversation that drove the young princess mad.

She sat with her legs crossed and a fluted glass in her hand. Every once in a while, she would bring said glass to her lips and sip at the light green liquid it held. She did not sit alone, no, for she was the princess. A tiny group of other female ants sat around her. They were pretty and they were all considered dates to die for, but Bala was not impressed. For the majority of the night, all they seemed to be able to discuss was the color to wear for the season and 'oh my gosh, did you see that guy's muscles'. It was not exactly high quality conversation to Bala. So, she sat, eyes drifting over the other guests and a sigh settling on her lips.

"Princess?" Came one of the delicate voices to her right. With a 'hm', she glanced over to the female who spoke. Said ant was beautiful, with soft green eyes and a gentle grace to her and a small tentative smile spread her mouth.

"I'm sorry, Rosi. What did you say?" The princess flawlessly switched over to her polite royal way of speaking, all politically correct and passive.

"Well, we were just saying that you have been awfully quiet tonight. You must have a lot on your mind."

"I'm sorry, girls." Bala replied with a soft flourish of her hand, "It's just been a long day and I'm a bit tired. Would you excuse me?"

With that, she stood and curtsied before flowing through the other guests to the stairwell. She pardoned herself as she bumped into a rather tall crimson skinned soldier and tried not to outright flee from the party. The truth was it had been a long day. Lessons from dawn to midday, then a brief intermission, if it could be called that, filled with talk of marriage and potential war. After that, she retired to her mother's side to be berated with questions and concerns of an angry colony. There were malcontents who demanded better conditions for the working class and widows begging for their husbands who died in battle to be returned for burial. Her mother calmed them, at least momentarily, and promised them what they wanted. In due time of course. Once the angry ants were escorted away, pouting, Bala was whisked away to prepare for the ball. So yes, the princess was ready to rest and be free of the tiresome crowd.

Her mind ached and her balance seemed to fail her at that moment. The princess swayed slightly and almost fell backwards, but a hand snapped around her wrist just before gravity could take hold. With a whoosh, Bala was pulled forward and another hand braced her elbow as she was set back on her feet.

"Be careful, princess. That would have been a nasty spill." The ant princess looked up into the hard gray eyes of her rescuer.

"Oh, General. What a nice...surprise. I didn't see you at the ball." She flashed him a winning royal smile and toyed with one of her antennae coyly. The general, a large male ant with broad shoulders, a strong jawline and a seemingly perpetual confident smile, stood a full head and shoulders above her. This forced Bala to tilt her head up to look him in the face. He bowed at the waist and lightly took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers ever so slightly. Placing a chaste kiss on her knuckles, the scarlet soldier chuckled lowly before responding.

"That is because I was not here, your Highness. I had urgent matters that needed tending to."

"Oh, that's too bad." _It would have made this party a little easier to bear, _she thought to herself, but kept her mouth shut. General Mandible straightened and let his eyes trail over the crowd.

"Yes, terrible shame. I actually need to speak with your mother, the Queen. It is important." Bala tried to hide her crestfallen face by glancing towards the upraised platform where her mother sat, looking on.

"Well, she is right where she usually is. Have fun." She grumbled the last part and began to wander up the stairs. She found her hand caught, however, and the petite ant turned in confusion. Mandible still held her hand in his own giant one, the smile still present on his face.

"Surely you'd think me callous, your Majesty, if I would not escort you to your chambers."

"I can manage on my own, General." Bala answered with a giggle.

"Not to my eyes, you can't. You seem pale and unsteady and I would hate to leave you without knowing you've made it safely." The words were spoken formally, but there was a trace of real concern in his face. Bala sighed and relented, allowing the general to come up alongside her. Mandible offered his elbow, which she took gratefully. She was still feeling light headed and she enjoyed the attention from the tall soldier. The princess leaned up against him and stepped carefully up the winding staircase.

Once at the top, the two hung a left and came into a room decorated with large green leaves and carpeted with a soft blue moss. The light, more of a glow that came off a luminous amber, was enough that one did not have to strain the eyes to see. Bala loosened her grip on Mandible's arm and slid away to drift over to her dresser. She removed her crown slowly and placed it on its cotton pillow and turned back to the general. He stood still and quiet, watching her. A blush threatened to heat its way into her cheeks and she dropped her gaze, biting her lip.

"Thank you, General." She said gently. The large ant bowed and left the room, closing the acorn door behind him.

Bala sighed loudly; she had been hoping for more than a goodbye bow from him. He was so strong and successful and it was such a turn on. The princess only wished he would show a little more emotion now and then. With a blown raspberry, she locked it away in the 'cest la vie' section of her mind and flopped ungracefully into her bed. The bottoms of her feet hurt now and her eyes felt heavy. Days like this were never her favorites. She had actually considered sneaking out of the palace and going to some shady little bar and drinking some potentially spiked drink with some sleazy little nobody who told her all the rights things in all the wrong ways until she grew bored of that too. Bala wanted more than this day to day she lived. Now, the princess knew how selfish that sounded. Most people would die to live the life she had. Free gifts, good food, no hardships; it must be nice, they all thought. '_If only they knew.'_ The royal ant smirked and rolled onto her belly.

Sleep found her without too much trouble and the dreams that galloped across her mind were those of fresh air, blue skies, and all the Oreos she could eat. Whatever Oreos were...

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**Short, I know! But, more to come! This was just a taste, a test of the water so-to-speak. I don't even know if anyone will read this. :P We will see I guess. **

**Reviews feed the author and make her produce more. Just like a dairy cow...**

***MOO!***


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